After Marco
by Didyoujustsayfandoms
Summary: When the 105th Trainee Squad Graduates, and are preparing to join a regiment, one tragically familiar face joins the Scouts when Marzia Bodt, Marco's younger sister joins the Recon Corps. with a sealed envelope that reads 'Marzia, if i die, give this to Jean Kirstein.' once he reads the letter, Jean takes it upon himself to look after her to redeem himself for Marco's death.
1. Chapter 1

(Jean's POV)

It's been exactly a year since I've joined the scouts, and i find myself here again. off to the sidelines of the stage as Erwin gives his 'many of you will die if you join the Recon Corps.' speech. I stand respectively beside Levi with the others looking at all the faces of the new recruits, fresh out of training. many were gawking at Erwin's missing arm, many more were listening in horror as he told of the slim chances of survival beyond the walls. all of them bright eyed, and hopeful. most will join the Garrison, packed into Wall Rose trying to keep the citizens from beating each other to death for food. A few of them will join the Military Police, all doe eyed, never to know what hell lies just beyond their precious walls. I used to be like them, but after facing those beasts when Wall Rose broke, i just couldn't face that. i couldn't go to the interior and pretend everything was fine. not after... him.

Erwin's speech wraps up, and most all of the trainees flee the scene. after everyone has left only four or five people remain standing. one of them, a rather short girl, with long brown hair, and an obscene amount of freckles stands, trembling, and unsure among them.

(Marzia POV)

I'm scared to death of what's happening next. there's a blonde man on stage, he sounds powerful, and has the most intense eyebrows I've ever seen. he's missing an arm, and if that wasn't scary enough, he was telling me exactly how slim of a chance i had of survival. _but it's okay,_ I tell myself _you knew that going in, that's why you're here._ i try to swallow my nerves, but i'm shaking so bad, and my legs feel like jelly, i don't think i can even move. which is probably a good thing. my jelly legs were probably the only thing keeping me from turning and running for the safety of the interior like the rest of the people who got into the top ten. the letter i'm clutching is crumpled from my strong grip on it. i can barley read the writing on the envelope. _"Marzia, if i die, give this note to Jean Kirstein._ Love, _Marco."_ the last letter i ever received from my brother, and it isn't even for me. when everyone else has cleared away, it's just me, and some other people i recognize from boot camp. i'd never spoken to any of them before, though. and not like it matters anyways. i'll be gone soon. _Brother, i'll be there soon._ But first, i had to deliver this letter.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Jean's POV)**

At first, I didn't know why she felt so familiar. I knew for a fact I'd never met her before, but she obviously knew me because she locked eyes with me as she walked up to me and the rest of Levi's squad. It dawned on me, as I looked her over, that she bore a striking resemblance to... no it couldn't be. But then again, the hair, the eyes and, _oh god, the freckles_. She had to be related to Marco. She made an awkward coughing sound and looked down at the ground. The girl stuttered when she first opened her mouth. "I-is any one of you... Jean?" she had such a small voice. Everything about her was small and timid looking. Her height, her voice, how she carried herself, even her hair, that she let fall down her back and in her eyes. It covered her face from the world. Her face, was admittedly, pretty cute. But that wasn't something I was about to say out loud. Not with Mikasa standing close by, staring curiously at the younger girl. I had to pull myself out of my thoughts when I realized she had been asking for me.

"Oh! Yes, that's me." I confirmed, giving a slight wave. When she looked up at me, she blushed and immediately looked away again as she shoved a letter into my hands. "Here." she said timidly "This is for you." I took the letter from her, mumbling a 'thanks' as I read the handwriting on the back of the crumpled envelope. "Marzia," it read. "If I die, give this to Jean Kirstein. Love, Marco." I nearly broke down as I read the last two words. This confirmed it. She must have been his sister. Thinking back to the days in that camp, I do remember her. She is a little taller than she'd been when we were trainees, and she wore her hair down, now. If I can think back, I can remember a girl a year behind us in training. She was sitting, watching me and Marco go through drills as she ate her lunch. I recall elbowing Marco. "Looks like you have a little fan club over there." and pointing over to her. When Marco saw her, he waved and she enthusiastically waved back, with a big, stupid grin on her face. Back then, I must have thought she was just a stupid little girl with a crush. But now, looking at her, with a name, and a face, I realized: She was a loving sister who is now mourning her brother. _Because of me_ I thought. _Because I fucked up, she lost a brother. She's all alone now because I couldn't save him_. I could feel tears burning at the corners of my eyes as I opened the letter and started to read. Out loud, of course, so that she could hear.

 _Hey, Jean._

 _If you're reading this, I'm dead. Sorry about that (haha). The girl who's giving you this note is (hopefully) my sister, Marzia. Please look after her. Keep her out of trouble, and for god's sake, keep her out of the Scouts. Take her to the interior, where you probably are. Make sure she marries a good guy, and that she has a happy life. I'm not around to be her brother anymore, so you have to do it for me. Take care of yourself, man. Who am I kidding? Of course you will. You're always looking after number one, right?_

 _-Marco_

When I finished reading the note, I folded it up, and shoved it in my pocket. Tears were streaming down my face after reading the note from my old friend. I couldn't break down yet. Not with the girl, Marzia, standing there silently sobbing. I had to be strong for her. _I have to protect her for Marco. I couldn't save him, but i can save her_. I put a hand on the top of her head, and rustled her hair, putting on a weak smile. "No worries, I'll keep you safe, I promise." She looked at me, wide eyed with a strange look on her face as a blush crept onto her face. _Oh boy._ I knew that look. I'd given it to Mikasa once or twice. This was going to be harder than I2 thought.

 **(Marzia's POV)**

When he finished the letter, he put a hand on my head. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." he said, putting on a smile for me. I stared at him in awe. He was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. He was a prince, really. I mean, yes, he looks a little like a horse, but I kinda look like a chipmunk. No one's perfect. He was still a prince to me. My very own white knight. A protector, he'd said so himself. My daydream was cut short when a man, no taller than I was coughed very rudely. "Yes, that's all well and good, Jean. But she's probably going to be nowhere near you when we go on recon missions. Her squad will probably be miles from ours. How do you plan on keeping her safe?" "Well, uhm..." Jean seemed to be a little afraid of this man, though I didn't know why, seeing as he towered over him. "W-we do have an extra space in our squad, don't we? That you were going to fill with Ymir before..." he paused looking back at a beautiful blonde girl standing among the other members of his squad. "Sorry, Chris-...Historia, I didn't mean to bring up..." "No, it's fine." The blonde assured him, though the look on her face made it seem like it wasn't fine at all. "Are you two done with your little tea party yet?" the man snapped. Yikes! Maybe that was why everyone was so afraid. "Yes, it is true, we do have a spot open..." he mumbled looking me over. "What rank did you get in training?" he asked. Realizing that he must have been a captain, I sprang into a salute "I ranked 4th, sir." I reported. "Hmmm. You rank fourth even while you don't know which hand you use in your salute?" Embarrassed, I realized while I'd been intimidated by the small man, that I had used the wrong hand in the salute. My face burned with shame and I heard two of his other squad members snickering. "Very well, then." the man said. "Come along." as he started to walk away, the others followed. In a hurry, I ran to catch up with them. Jean turned around, and waited for me to catch up. "Umm, shouldn't he have like, I don't know, reported to his superior that he was taking me with him?" Jean let out a nervous laugh "Yeah, no. That's Captain Levi. He pretty much does whatever he wants..." and that was the end of that.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Jean's POV)**

It's been a week since Marzia joined the squad. Back at the base, she fits in very well. She helps Historia cook, she trains with Mikasa, and she could listen to Armin talk about what the world was like before the walls in awe for hours, she even helps Hanji with titan experiments. She wasn't at all afraid of Eren when she learned what he could do. If anything, she became very curious. Everyone took a liking to her almost immediately. As for me, I spent most of my time looking out for her. Marco was not being overprotective when he wrote that I needed to look after her. Marzia was very clumsy. Just a week, and I've already had to catch her from falling three times, move her drink on the table so she wouldn't spill it more than once, and I've had to bandage up her fingers at least twice from her cutting herself with kitchen knives when preparing dinner. Which makes it amazing to watch her with 3DM gear, because when she's flying around with it, she's the most graceful being on the planet. It's mesmerizing to watch her fly around as Eren tries to catch her out of the air as a titan.

Once she landed, she caught me staring at her, and blushed. Man, it makes it really hard to be a big brother type figure while she has this crush on me. I'm not going to pretend I don't notice, that's unfair to her. I have to explain to her that I'm here to be her big brother, not her boyfriend. But each time I get up the nerve, I can't bring myself to actually tell her. She's still in mourning for her brother. I can't just break her heart again. _I'll give it a little more_ _time_ I tell myself. The only thing is, the longer I wait to tell her, the more hope she'll have that there's a chance. I kicked the fence I was leaning on in frustration, and the old rotting wood gave out from under me in response. I fell hard on my butt.

"Jean!" I heard Marzia yelp in surprise. "Are you okay?" she asked, worriedly running over to me. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I shouldn't have trusted this old fence to hold my weight." I laughed shrugging off the embarrassment. "Nice one, Jean." I heard Connie taunt from the dining room window, followed by the muffled laughter of Sasha trying to laugh with food in her mouth. "tch." I clicked my tongue. "Shut up, Connie!" was all I could think of to yell back. Just then I heard Marzia giggle. "You really should be more careful, Jean. Who's going to keep me from getting hurt if we're both clumsy?" her laugh was adorable. My cheeks started to burn a little. _She's so cute...L-Like a sister..._ I corrected myself. I'm supposed to be her brother. I can think she's cute, just in a brotherly way, of course. I could easily shrug that thought off. But what I couldn't shrug off was how my heart skipped a beat when she gave me her hand to help me up. _Ohhh boy._ I thought.

 **(Marzia POV)**

It'd only been a week, and already I felt like part of the team. Historia and I cooked, and I trained with Mikasa (She totally has a thing for Eren, but I'm pretty sure Eren's more interested in Captain Levi, if you know what I mean.), and Armin tells the coolest stories about what the world was like before the titans. I love it here. It's a shame I'm going to have to leave here, soon. But I belong with my family, and all my family has passed on, now. So that's where I must be, too. I'm thinking of this as Eren tries to swat me out of the air. He nearly catches me, but I'm too quick, too small for him to catch. I land gracefully in the grass, and start to remove the gear. When I look up, Jean's staring at me. He's been following me around all week. Catching me when I fall, bandaging my fingers when I cut them, preventing me from spilling things. It's kind of like when Marco and I lived at home together except, this is a little different. Jean isn't my brother, and I don't know how else to describe it. He just feels different. I blush as I remember the first time he caught me falling. I'd been getting up from the table to go train with Mikasa, and I tripped over my own feet. Before I knew what was happening, Jean got up from his chair, knocking it over in the process, and grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back upright. "Be more careful." he laughed like it was no big thing. But to me, it was the sweetest thing a guy had ever done for me... Marco didn't count. Just then, I was snapped out of my thoughts by a loud crash. When I looked over, Jean was sitting in the ground among a pile of what used to be a fence. "Jean! Are you okay?" I asked as I raced over to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I shouldn't have trusted this old fence to hold my weight." he said laughing. "Nice one, jean" I heard Sasha and Connie laughing from the dining room. "Shut up, Connie!" Jean responded. I laughed at the scene that had just played out in front of me. My goofy prince. He blushed a little in embarrassment when I laughed, so I gave him a hand to help him up. He took it appreciatively. My heart started to ache. I was going to miss this


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, so Author's note time. SO SO SO sorry it's taken me so long to fix these chappys, I'm just a lazy nerd that procrastinates. I'm doing it now though! Better late then never! P.s. don't own AOT**

 **(Marzia POV)**

Today was the day. Our first recon mission outside Wall Rose. This time, we're trying to secure a new, safe path to get to the other side of the wall. Apparently, they've started being extra careful, with reported sightings of hairy, intelligent titans. To be honest, I was a little scared...okay, I was completely terrified. But I shouldn't be. All I had to do was run into a titan. Then, this would be over, and I'd be With Marco, and Mom and Dad... I'd tried to join them earlier this year, but I was too much of a coward to do it myself. So this was what I decided to do. Hoping I'd be part of Commander Erwin's little statistic. Or Commander Eyebrows, as Connie, Sasha and I had taken to calling him.

I smiled remembering the laughs I'd shared with this crew over that past month. I really didn't want to go, but I'd already made up my mind. I'd committed to this. I can't just keep them waiting for me. The horse under me seemed to sense my unease and started to snort and dig its hoof in the dirt. "Easy, boy." I cooed, petting its neck. The horse let out a little whinny in response. "You nervous?" I heard from behind me. My heart began to skip. _Jean._ "A little." I admitted sheepishly. "Don't worry. We'll be here to make sure you're safe." "We?" I asked curiously. "Of course. All of us will be looking out for you. Even Captain Levi." He responded, smiling at me. "We're your family now." My... family. A tear fell down my cheek. Of course. How stupid of me.

"Marzia, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Jean asked, concerned. "It's nothing." I smiled, whipping away my tears. When he wasn't convinced, I reached across the space between our horses and touched his hand "Really, it's nothing. I'm just... so happy." A blush is creeping up on his face, but I don't notice it. I start to ride ahead, busy with my own thoughts. How silly of me. All this time, I'd been so focused on reuniting and being with my family, that I didn't realize, I was already with them. I'd made a new home, and a new family with these people. I'd be stupid to give it all away. I'd changed my mind. I wasn't just going to give up, and hand myself over to the titans. I was going to fight, to keep this new life I have. The life Marco wanted me to have. The one _he_ should have had. For the first time in more than a year, I was actually happy.

 **(Jean POV)**

I had to get a hold of myself. I was supposed to be her brother, damn it. This is stupid. All of this, it isn't real. All these feelings are just me, being flattered that she likes me in that way. Nothing more. I have to get her off my mind. Maybe if I devote less time to watching out for her, and more time perusing Mikasa, this will go away, and we can pretend that this little thing never happened. Yeah... that's a good idea. I congratulate myself on the good plan. As Levi calls us around, to let us in on where we'll be positioned.

I noted how perfect it was to my plan. Levi and Eren were upfront (no surprise there. Get a room, you two... gross.) Historia and Armin on the left, Connie and Sasha on the right, and me, Mikasa and Marzia in the center of the back. This way, I could pursue Mikasa, and look after Marzia. Two birds, one stone. Marzia and Mikasa were both adamant against the idea, though. "Sir, with all due respect, don't you think I'd be better suited at the front of the formation, protecting Eren?" Mikasa protested. "I agree, Captain. Eren is much more important to the squad then I am." Marzia pipped up. This made Levi uncomfortable.

Whenever we did battle practice at the base, Levi always pairs himself alone with Eren, and Mikasa with me and Marzia. Mikasa usually wants to be with Eren, and will protest about being away from him. Seeing as how Eren and I don't usually get along, he's usually far away from me. Which is where Marzia wants Mikasa to be. Together, they make a very formidable foe for Levi. "Usually I would agree with you, but seeing as if we get into trouble, Eren can always assume Titan from, and Marzia is still new to the scouts, don't you think it's smarter for you to be helping Jean look after her for a while?" Smooth Levi.

Mikasa grumbled to herself, but made no further protests. In any other circumstance, I'm sure Mikasa would have been happy to be accompanying Marzia. The two girls get along really well. But seeing as Eren was going to be at least a mile away in a spread-out formation alone with Levi, she wasn't all too happy. Neither was Marzia. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad, am I?" I joked to try and lighten the mood. Both girl gave me a dirty look. It hurt my heart to see her look at me like that...Mikasa, I mean. I tried to tell myself. But it was becoming increasingly more difficult to lie about this shit _. Marco, if you're haunting me from beyond the grave, this isn't a funny way of doing it._

 **Another Author's Note**

 **Things are getting interesting, no? Next chapter, it's going to get complicated, so hold on to your butts, everyone.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I dON'T OWN AOT K BYE**

 **(Marzia POV)**

I'm not stupid. I know when a guy isn't interested in me, and the look Jean gets on his face when I blush because of him, it's a deer in the headlights look. Whatever that means. It's a phrase Armin taught me. He said it was used back in the old days when people got a look on their face that displayed that they were in a bad situation, and didn't know what to do. Armin is really smart, and kind. Damn it, why couldn't it have been him I fell in love with. I guess it can't be helped, now. Jean is in love with Mikasa, and sooner or later Mikasa will realize what's really going on between Eren and Levi, and give up on that. And when she does, Jean will be there, waiting. I sighed. This sucks, but I want Jean to be happy. If Mikasa makes him happy, then I'll let her have him. I'll get over it... eventually. My heart hurt, and I wasn't paying attention. I didn't notice the crawler until Jean cried out "Marzia! Look out!"

 **(Jean POV)**

This is bad. This is very, very bad. I'm in love with my dead best friend's sister. Was there nothing I could do? I looked over at Mikasa, hoping to feel... something to distract me from Marzia, but it's no use. Yeah, Mikasa's beautiful, but that's all I really saw in her. She's so cold and distant to me. All she's interested is Eren, and to a lesser degree, Armin. I wonder what she'll think when she finds out about Eren and Levi... Ah. Poor thing. There's really nothing I can do about it. I'm in love with Marzia. Hey, it's not so bad. Marzia loves me back, so there's really no problem, right? That's when I heard it. The rhythm of a titan coming for us. _Thump thump thump thump thump thump._ I barely had time to get the black flare in the air before it was upon us. I saw it before the girls did, and it was heading straight for them. Shouting "Marzia! Look out!" Was all I could do.

 **(Marzia POV)**

It was upon us so fast, there was no time. Mikasa and I had to ditch our horses. Sinking our 3DM gear into the bottom half of the titan, we flew away from the horses just in time for the crawler to land face first into them with a sickening thud mixed with the splat of the horses being mushed. It was the most sickening thing I'd ever heard. To keep the crawler from moving again, I made a loop around its legs, and sliced at its Achilles Tendons. Sending the thing sprawling clumsily, unable to move. As I did that, Mikasa went for the nape of the neck, and took the thing down. We made quite the team, I had to say.

"Are you two alright?" Jean said riding his horse over to us. There was a look of panic on his face as he looked around searching for any more, but there were none. Somehow, this guy managed to sneak up behind us. "I'm okay." I answered, as the titan's blood began to steam from my cloak. "Mikasa? Are you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine." She answered distantly as she stared off in the direction Eren and Levi would be. As I followed her gaze, in noticed two small figured approaching us from that direction, and Armin and Historia from theirs, and Connie and Sasha from theirs. Soon, we were all grouped together again, near the rapidly decomposing titan. "Is everyone alright?" Captain Levi asked "are there any more of these?" Mikasa shook her head. "None that we could see, we think this one just surprised us from behind."

"Right." Levi nodded. "We're going to have to regroup, seeing as we're missing two horses now. Mikasa, Marzia, just... Pick someone to ride with, and let's head back. Erwin met up with us and told us to head back for now. That's why we arrived so quickly. We were already on our way here when we saw the flare." I nodded in understanding.

 _Pick someone to ride with... well, if I knew Jean, he's going to want to give Mikasa a ride. I'd better not get in the way._ I thought to myself as I strode over to Armin. "Hey, do you mind if I ride back with you?" I asked him he looked a little confused "Don't... you want to ride with Jean?" he asked, puzzled. I smiled, sadly. "I think he'd rather ride with Mikasa." I told him. He gave me a kind smile. "I understand." he said as he helped me onto his horse. I held onto the saddle, and Armin reached around me and took hold of the reins. I leaned back into his chest, feeling safe. This felt okay. Armin felt like a big brother. Or at least, more like a big brother than Jean does. _No don't think about Jean that way anymore. You have to move on. He doesn't like you that way._ I scolded myself as we rode back towards Wall Rose.

 **Author's Note**

 **okay, so idk what kind of feedback this thing is getting seeing as I'm typing and publishing these chapters immediate, instead of spaced out, but I'm just going to assume that there are people that like it. I think I might finish this thing tonight... idk.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I dON'T OWN AOT K BYE**

 **(Jean POV)**

I looked around after everything got settled, and I couldn't find Marzia anywhere. I'd thought for sure she'd want to ride with me. _Maybe she somehow got a horse to share with Mikasa…_ I thought to myself looking around until I spotted her on the back of Armin's horse. At first I was relieved. "Good." I said to myself "I know where she is now." That relief lasted all of a second. That's when it started to creep up on me _. …what the fuck is she doing on the back of Armin's horse?_ I thought to myself looking over at them. He had his arms around her. Well not _around her_ around her, but pretty damn close. And she looked pretty damn comfy leaning against him like that.

It started to bug me, and I couldn't stop staring at them. Distantly, I could hear Mikasa, Eren and Levi bickering behind me, but I couldn't quite register what they were saying. "Mikasa, why did you have to sit behind me on the horse? This is embarrassing." "I'm just trying to make sure you don't fall off, Eren." "You heard him, Mikasa, you're embarrassing him. Go find another horse." "There is _no_ other horse, Captain." "Stop fighting you three!" Historia chimed in, sounding annoyed and tired. I couldn't put meaning behind their words. All I could comprehend was that Marzia was on a horse, that wasn't mine. With Armin. And they were talking. And enjoying themselves. It made me so mad, I couldn't see straight. When Armin whispered something into Marzia's ear that made her laugh, I let out a growl _. This must be jealousy._ I thought to myself. I wondered if this was how Marzia felt when I tried to get Mikasa's attention. I didn't like this feeling at all.

 **(Marzia POV)**

"Jean looks kind of angry." I said to Armin about an hour after we started riding back. "Yeah, I wonder what the problem is." I looked back, and saw Mikasa holding the reins of a horse, with Eren sitting in front of her. It was such a funny sight to behold that when Armin whispered "There goes Eren's manhood, look! It's floating away in the breeze!" I couldn't help but laugh. It was so easy being with Armin. So easy to laugh with him. I didn't have to worry about whether or not he felt the same way for me, because we already established that we were just friends. _This is what Jean and I will probably be like from now on... that wouldn't be so bad._ I thought to myself absentmindedly. I didn't notice that the more Armin and I laughed, the angrier Jean seemed to get.

 **Author's Note**


	7. Chapter 7

(Jean's POV)

After we got back, It was about time to go to sleep, except I couldn't get to sleep. I was so consumed with the thought of Marzia and Armin that I couldn't relax. When breakfast came the next morning, I was extremely tired. I almost fell asleep at the table. "Jean, are you feeling alright?" Armin asked from the other side of the table i gave him a nasty look. "I'm fine, _Armin._ " "Woa! that was a little hostile! what's going on over here?" Connie asked, turning his attention to us. while he wasn't looking, Sasha started swiping food from his plate. " _Nothing._ everything is _fine_." I said, narrowing my eyes and staring the blonde down. "Jean, is ...there a problem?" Armin asked, feeling uncomfortable.

Before i could open my mouth, a light thumping started coming from the stairwell as Marzia made her way into the kitchen, still in her pajamas. I noticed with a pang of sorrow, was just a big tee-shirt that used to belong to Marco. "Mmmornin'." she said drowsily, rubbing her eyes. "Good morning, Marzia." Historia chimed, placing a plate of eggs in front of the empty seat next to me at the table. Marzia began to sluggishly eat "someone's tired this morning." i teased her, trying to get a rile out of her. "Oh, sorry." she said nonchalantly "I couldn't sleep last night. kept having dreams about titans." Armin laughed. "Don't worry, that happened to me the night after my first recon, too. you get used to it." she smiled lazily up at him. even that made me angry.

"Jeez you two, get a room" i heard myself say bitterly. "What?" Armin exclaimed. "Jean, What is up with you this morning?" Sasha asked, face full of Connie's Eggs. "Hey! Those are my eggs!" Connie yelled. "...Sorry?" "Oh, You know, you two have gotten so lovey dovey lately." i spat. "It's sickening." Marzia got mad then. "Hey! and you think _we_ like it when you're all drooling after Mikasa?" she didn't deny her and Armin, which just served to make me more angry "You know, you could have just asked, and I would have given them to you." Connie steamed. "I'm sorry! I can't help it!" Sasha said, reaching for a strip of bacon off his plate "Jesus Sasha, STOP!"

"So, You don't deny that something's going on between you and Armin." She Pinched her eyes shut "What? What does that have to do with _anything_?" "Jean, nothing is going on between me and Marzia..." Armin chimed in trying to defuse the situation. "Butt out, you blonde coconut!" I yelled "WELL AT LEAST I DON'T LOOK LIKE A HORSE, _JEAN"_ Armin spat back pronouncing 'Jean' like the type of pants, and that's when things really got heated. we all snarled and snapped at each other. until it got so loud that you couldn't hear anything else. "EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" we heard, loud and high-pitched coming from the Kitchen.

It was Historia. She'd been cutting up some Tomatoes for lunch with a kitchen knife, that was now sticking point-down into the wood of the counter. "It is so _stupid_ for us to be fighting like this, when THREE OF OUR SCOUTS ARE CURRENTLY _AWOL_!" Historia sobbed. we shouldn't be fighting over nothing because we're too afraid to share our true feelings. Historia had no mercy after that. she put down the truth, no matter who it hurt. "Mikasa, Eren and Levi are a thing. get over it." "Jean, Marzia and Armin aren't interested in each other, she is just having a hard time being around you because she thinks you're in love with Mikasa." "Marzia, Jean isn't in love with Mikasa, he's in love with _you_." then she turned to Shasha and Connie "And you two!" she said shaking a finger at them. "Stop fighting over nothing and just make out already, Jesus! The sexual tension is driving me up a fucking wall!" it got dangerously quiet once Historia finished. In a huff, she yanked the kitchen knife out of the counter, and continued to slice tomatoes like nothing happened.

(Marzia's POV)

Was it really true what Historia said? i looked around, Eren and Levi were blushing, and not meeting Mikasa's piercing gaze. Sasha and Connie were bright red, and not talking. I looked over at Jean. He was looking down at his eggs, sheepishly sneaking glances my way when he thought i wasn't looking. "So," Armin said, addressing me. "This is awkward." I nodded slowly, processing what just happened. "I... Think i'm going to go get dressed for the day." I finally said getting up from the table. I stole one more glance at Jean before I made my way up the stairs. He was watching me as I went.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note**

 **This is it. this is the last chapter of this shiz. It's been quite a ride, and I'm so sorry it took me Six months to fix my chappys. But I'm done now. I kind of like how I ended it. I hope you guys do, too. I still don't own Attack on Titan**

 **(Marzia's POV)**

I slammed the door to my room as soon as I was through the doorway. Flopping face first onto the bed I started sobbing. Quiet, controlled. No one could hear me that way. That's how I had to cry during the first few days of Marco's death while I was still in training. Even still, I guess someone heard me. Or more like three someones. The first person who knocked on my door was Historia, formerly Christa. She let herself in, and sat on the edge of my bed. She ran a hand through my hair in a comforting way. Though she couldn't be much older than I am, and definitely not much taller, she still seemed to feel like a mother to me. "I'm sorry about that. Did I embarrass you?" I shook my head, refusing to lift my head from my bedsheets. "It's just confusing." My voice was muffled, but she could hear me all the same. "Yeah, boys are dumb. Girls can be dumb, too." I heard her mumble the last part, but didn't comment because it obviously wasn't meant for me to hear. "Just… know I was serious. Jean loves you."

And with that, she left the room. The next person came about ten minutes later, with tear streaks of her own. "Hey Mikasa." I was now sitting up in bed with my knees tucked under my chin. "Hi." she too sat on my bed. "Are you okay?" I asked her "I mean, I can't say I didn't know…" I could tell she was referring to Eren. "but it still hurts." "I'm sorry." We hugged each other for a moment. "Jean… has never been my favorite person." I giggled a little at that. Poor Jean. "But," she continued "he'll take good care of you. So… Talk to him, please." I told her I'd keep that in mind, and with a satisfied nod, she left, too.

The third and last person that entered my room that day was Jean himself. "Hey." He greeted. I motioned for him to sit next to me with a quick pat to the spot that Mikasa had vacated a little under an hour ago. It occurred to me that I never actually got dressed like I claimed I was going to when I first left the dining room. He sat down, and we stayed there in an agonizing silence. "So…" we both said at the same time. And then "Y-you first." Then nothing for what felt like eons. I finally plucked up the courage and took a deep breath "There's nothing between me and Armin." "yeah." He agreed "…and you're dumb" again he nodded in agreement "like, really, really dumb" "I know" "like, you make Connie look smart by comparison." He looked up, halfway amused. "Not going to lie, that one stung a bit." I scoffed, and shoved him lightly. "Are… we okay?" he asked, vulnerable. I nodded back. "Yes, we're okay." He smiled. "Good because… I do love you." A slight blush stained his cheeks.

In that moment, I forgot everything. I leapt on him, and our mouths collided. Heat rolled up and down my spine, as we hit the floor. We stayed like that for a long time until we heard a knock at my door. It was Connie and Shasha "You guys okay in there? You haven't been out if hours." Sasha chimed in with a "You didn't kill him, did you Marzi?" I laughed. "No, we're fine." "Come on then!" Connie whined. "Dinner is on the table, and Historia won't let us eat anything until we're all at the table. If we don't get food into Sasha soon, she might start eating _me_." And with that, we heard footsteps retreating back down the stairs. I looked back at my prince. My very horse-like prince, and sighed. "I don't think he was kidding about the whole Sasha eating him thing." "Me either" he breathed. We got up, and-hand in hand- made our way down the stairs to join our weird, broken, Family.

Just what I'd wanted to since the beginning.

 **Another Author's note**

 **This has been so fun, and I already have an Idea for my next fic. It's going to be a Fairy Tail one, and it's going to be Gajevy, and it's going to be filled with so many of my own head canons, that it's probs going to end up really bad, but I don't care. Hope you enjoyed, and sorry for the sappy ending, but that's how I role. No promises, but my next one might have some lemony goodness, if you guys behave**


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